POR TI Q.

Termos como paralisia cerebral, distonia, tetraparésia, monoparésia, hemiparésia, diplegia, hemiplegia, espasticidade, hipotonia, hipertonia, disfasia, cegueira cortical, e outros, começamos a ouvi-los desde que os nossos filhos são pequenos. Mas servem para quê? Quando se tem um bebé de meses, para que serve aos pais saber isso? Para andarem que nem uns loucos na internet a ver quais as consequências futuras, como vão ficar os seus filhos?  Quem não se lembra disto? E não foi a pior fase? Agarrarmo-nos às definições e choramos e não queremos encarar o futuro.
Eu comprei livros de neurologia, atlas do cérebro, mandei vir dos EUA livros sobre a integração sensorial, paralisia cerebral, casos de sucesso. Enfim, li tudo! E para que me serviu? Sim, sou uma pessoa capaz de falar do assunto, saber do que me estão a falar. Mas para quê? Para chorar todos os dias quando via naquilo que o meu filho se ia tornar? E muitas vezes os técnicos e os médicos focam-se nisso e dizem: pois o seu filho vai ser…

Neurofeedback

Saúde - Nova unidade de Estimulação Cerebral em Coimbra - RTP Noticias, Vídeo

November 16, 2010

At ages 1 and 1-1/2, children who get most of their sleep at night (as opposed to during the day) do better in a variety of skill areas than children who don't sleep as much at night.

That's the finding of a new longitudinal study conducted by researchers at the University of Montreal and the University of Minnesota. The research appears in the November/December 2010 issue of the journal Child Development.

The study, of 60 Canadian children at ages 1, 1-1/2, and 2, looked at the effects of infants' sleep on executive functioning. Among children, executive functioning includes the ability to control impulses, remember things, and show mental flexibility. Executive functioning develops rapidly between ages 1 and 6, but little is known about why certain children are better than others at acquiring these skills.

"We found that infants' sleep is associated with cognitive functions that depend on brain structures that develop rapidly in the first two years…

November 3, 2010

New research provides fascinating insight into mechanisms that underlie recovery after damage to a region of the brain important for memory and attention. The research, published by Cell Press in the November 4th issue of the journal Neuron, highlights the role of undamaged portions of the brain that can "take over" and support the recovery of function.

Brain damage can have devastating consequences, depending on the location and severity of the injury. Damage to an area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex often results in deficits in memory and attention. However, people can recover some function over time. Studies examining recovery after motor or language deficits have indicated that undamaged regions of the brain can compensate for the damaged areas. While it is clear that neural plasticity is necessary for functional recovery after damage to the prefrontal cortex, specific mechanisms of cognitive recovery are not as well understood.

"In our curr…

Uma animação BRILHANTE sobre o funcionamento do nosso cérebro. Como funciona, que partes são responsáveis por quê, as lesões e quando se estimula "onde" é que acontece!

Brain, Brain Information, Facts, News, Photos -- National Geographic

Making sense of the brain's mind-boggling complexity isn't easy. What we do know is that it's the organ that makes us human, giving people the capacity for art, language, moral judgments, and rational thought. It's also responsible for each individual's personality, memories, movements, and how we sense the world.

All this comes from a jellylike mass of fat and protein weighing about 3 pounds (1.4 kilograms). It is, nevertheless, one of the body's biggest organs, consisting of some 100 billion nerve cells that not only put together thoughts and highly coordinated physical actions but regulate our unconscious body processes, such as digestion and breathing.

The brain's nerve cells are known as neurons, which make up the organ's so-called "gray matter." The neurons transmit and gather electrochemical signals that are communicated via a network of millions of nerve fibers called dendrites and axons. These are the brain's "white matter.&quo…